5.1 - What to use on rear-wall, flush with listening position: Bookshelf (RB) or Surrounds (RS)

[LiveFreeAndRoam]

Hi,

I am trying to decide between the RS-series or RB-series for the rear-wall in a 5.1 setup.

Our seating position is flush with the rear wall and 15' from the front wall. I could place the speakers on the rear wall or on stands/side-table. I also have the option of moving the seating position forward by 1' if needed. The room is 15'x30'x8'. From the center of the sitting position, the side-wall is 10' to our left and 20' to our right, so one of the rears will be much closer to the side-wall than the other. The system is driven by an Onkyo 805 (130W/ch). Existing equipment: RB-61, RC-64, RW-10d.

My questions:

Would you recommend RS or RB speakers for rear-wall in 5.1?

Ideally, should they be matched in size with the fronts (6.5") or is smaller better for the rears?

Is it better to wall-mount or stand/table-mount the speakers?

As always, I appreciate your responses.

Good Listening to you,
LFaR.

[DrWho]

Get the surrounds mounted above your head (so wall mount) and go with the RS style.

Putting speakers in the wall isn't an option is it?

[LiveFreeAndRoam]

I like the idea of installing them in the wall, but had discounted that idea based on some negative articles about in-wall speakers compared to stand-alone speakers. Mostly, the things that warned me away from in-wall speakers was that their performance is highly dependent on the wall cavity, as that becomes the speaker baffle. Maybe there are things I can do to reduce the impact of weird resonances in the wall. Or maybe it's not as serious as some of the articles make it out to be?

Routing cables through the wall cavity won't be without its difficulties, but it may be possible, at least for the vertical drop to the floor.

Which in-wall speakers were you thinking about?

Also, do you feel it is best to keep all the speakers the same size, at 6.5"?

Thanks again DrWho. I continue to enjoy your excellent advice.

Cheers!
LFaR.

[DrWho]

I was actually thinking of the 5650:

http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/r-5650-s.aspx

I

am familiar with the literature concerning the shortcomings of in-wall

speakers, but one of the things about rules of thumb is that there are

always exceptions. While the wall cavity certainly has its own impact

on the sound, its influence can be minimized. I have gotten to hear the

5650 mounted in a normal wall on a few occasions and it sounds

fantastic. It would also be perfect for your application because it

maximizes the distance between the speaker and the listening position

and the extremely wide dispersion is well suited for the coverage you

need. The new Klipsch in-wall speakers are sleepers on the market.

Worst

case scenario - there are also simple ways to reduce any negative

influence from the wall, but I really doubt you'll need to worry about

it.

As far as the size of the woofers - I wouldn't worry about

that so much. There is way more stuff going on in the room that will

prohibit any notion of perfect timbre matching.

Btw, this is just one guy's crazy opinion. I could see how someone

might possibly prefer an RS-62 or something like that in your

application. I just think it would be a lot harder to implement

properly. Since the listening position is against the rear wall you're

gonna want to avoid a bookshelf style speaker (dispersion isn't wide enough).

[Hunt]

I can attest to the high quality and good performance of using in-walls, especially if HT is your primary use. Due to WAF concerns, I installed in- walls in my system, for the rear-surrounds in a 7.1 configuration. I am using the RCW-5's, which have since been discontinued. They do great, in my opinion, and if I were doing it over again, would even use them for my side surrounds. While I like my RS-7's, they are pretty massive for attaching to the walls. You do get used to them after a while, but the in-walls certainly result in a clean looking application, if your HT room doubles as your family room, as mine does. I tried many different center channels, bookshelves, surrounds and floor standers before I finally settled on my current config. I can honestly say that you would not be missing out if you went with some in-walls. Unless you have the luxury of surrounding yourself with 5/7 RF-7's, K-horns or whatever else your favorite speaker is, the little ones stuck in the walls can be pretty darn good. (just make sure you don't have a bedroom in the adjoining room, as the sound will bleed into the next room - mine happens to be the garage, so it doesn't matter).

Good luck and have fun.

[LiveFreeAndRoam]

Thanks again guys! Good ideas and good advice.

I'm about 2 months from buying and will test the in-walls, as well as figure out the best way to cut into the wall etc.

Luckily, the rear-wall is also an exterior wall, so I won't be too concerned if some sound sneaks out into the yard. Given this is just for surrounds, I doubt my neigbours will care either.

It's certainly good fun.

Cheers,
LFaR.

[LiveFreeAndRoam]

I just checked on our importers website (http://www.internationaldynamics.com.au), it appears they only import the R-5650-W into Australia, but not the R-5650-S. Can anyone recommend an online store where I could import them myself?

Thanks,
LFaR.